Machine‐mediated instruction for work‐force training and education

Abstract

This paper reviews developments in the work force as they bear on training needs from entry level skills through professional continuing education. It summarizes the state of the art in various categories of information technology as they apply to education and training, including interactive videodisc, satellite communications systems, videotex, and artificial intelligence methods. These technologies and their potential are illustrated through case study examples. Policy recommendations are presented for governmental, industrial, and higher educational institution initiatives.     

Non-abandonment as a foundation for inclusive school practice

The authors of this article describe an essential feature of inclusive educational practice: non-abandonment. When students’ needs and difficult behavior are overwhelming, teachers may abandon them emotionally as a defensive reaction to their own experience of emotional distress and helplessness. Non-abandonment represents a constructive strategy for dealing with these students based on the psychodynamic concepts of containing and holding. The authors provide a theoretical grounding for the processes of abandonment and non-abandonment, and then illustrate how these two processes play themselves out in school practice, drawing on action research conducted with educators in Israeli schools. They then describe eight elements in an active strategy of non-abandonment. These are: (1) make a conscious choice to assume professional responsibility for these students; (2) “stand by” students whose behaviour leads others to abandon them; (3) reframe self-defeating ways of thinking to open new avenues for action; (4) attempt to understand students’ real needs, including emotional ones; (5) adapt teaching practice to meet these needs, even going beyond traditional pedagogy; (6) create school frameworks in which teachers can systematically reflect on and improve practice; (7) address teachers’ emotional needs by making their own negative feelings openly discussable; and (8) promote teamwork and supportive relations among school faculty based on honest feedback and mutual non-abandonment.     

Reflections on the Professionalisation of Adult Educators in the Framework of Public Policies in Portugal

The discussion in this article is based on recent research carried out by the author recently on adult education public policies and her participation in the Adult Learning Practitioners in Europe (ALPINE) project coordinated by Research voor Beleid (The Netherlands) and funded by the European Commission. The analysis presented here stresses the challenges faced by adult educators in Portugal in the last decades and the concerns about the emerging professionalisation process that started in the framework of observed adult education and training public policy.     

Measuring the promise of Big Data syllabi

Growing interest in Big Data is leading industries, academics and governments to accelerate Big Data research. However, how teachers should teach Big Data has not been fully examined. This article suggests criteria for redesigning Big Data syllabi in public and private degree-awarding higher education establishments. The author conducted a survey of 35 Big Data syllabi across different academic institutions in the USA using Palmer, Bach, and Streifer’s rubric criteria. The role of syllabi in higher education has an established tradition in summarising topics covered in a single course and textbook, and in referencing the instructor’s resources. Yet, despite the central role of course resources, the present study did not find a common textbook. The majority of resources referenced were academic articles and blog postings used by the instructors and other professionals in the field. Based on Palmer et al.’s score rubric, this study found that many of the syllabi broke down the main ideas of Big Data into smaller content items using interpretations of the instructor’s subject knowledge. The study recommends that Big Data instructors need to provide a better breakdown of each component of the syllabus to reflect a clear understanding of grades and resources available on the subject. Future studies also need to examine students’ expectations of those classes.     

Children’s Beliefs About Possibility Differ Across Dreams,Stories, and Reality

Are children’s judgments about what can happen in dreams and stories constrained by their beliefs about reality? This question was explored across three experiments, in which four hundred and sixty-nine 4- to 7-year-olds judged whether improbable and impossible events could occur in a dream, a story, or reality. In Experiment 1, children judged events more possible in dreams than in reality. In Experiment 2, children also judged events more possible in dreams than in stories. Both experiments also suggested that children’s beliefs about reality constrain their judgments about dreams and stories. Finally, in Experiment 3 children were asked about impossible events more typical of dreams and stories. In contrast with the other experiments, children now affirmed the events could happen in these worlds.     

Becoming an urban science teacher: How beginning teachers negotiate contradictory school contexts

Teacher attrition rates are high in urban schools, particularly for new science teachers. Little research has addressed how science teachers can be prepared to effectively bridge the divide between preparation and urban teaching. We utilized the theoretical frameworks of social justice, identity, and structure-agency to investigate this transition. Specifically, we examined the Urban Science Teacher Preparation (USTP) program as a critical case of “well-prepared” urban science teachers. Study participants included one cohort of four teachers. Data, primarily from individual interviews, a focus group, and written reflections, were collected from participants during pre-service preparation and their first year of teaching. The USTP program nurtured the development of a professional identity aligned with teaching science for social justice, with a unique emphasis on identifying structural injustices in schools. Findings indicate all four teachers used their identities to negotiate school policies and procedures that restricted student opportunities to learn science through three processes: deconstructing the context, positioning themselves within and against the context, and enacting their identities. These findings suggest the importance of USTP programs to provide teacher candidates with political clarity for teaching for social justice and sustained induction support to resist school socialization pressures.